


The Five God Cure for One Anxious Heartbeat

by homosociallyyours



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Established Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Established Zayn Malik/Liam Payne, F/F, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Marijuana, Matchmaking, Mythology - Freeform, OT5, OT5 Friendship, Puppy Love, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Ridiculous, twin flames
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-06 09:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20504384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homosociallyyours/pseuds/homosociallyyours
Summary: When OT5 decides to sneak into a music festival to have a bit of fun and maybe make a few people fall in love, they expect things to go relatively smoothly. Fate has other plans.Or: Niall, Louis, Harry, Liam, and Zayn are just five lesser Greek gods out there trying to have a good time, and they're feeling so attacked right now.





	The Five God Cure for One Anxious Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [haztobegood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haztobegood/gifts).

> This fic was based off of the following prompt from haztobegood: "OT5 as Greek gods attending a modern music festival for a fun weekend away from their normal godly duties. Chaos ensues." 
> 
> I strayed from it a little, but not too much, and of course I did my best to keep it ridiculous, since that was the point of this fest! 
> 
> Major thanks to the mods of this fest for not only creating it but being absolutely excellent about checking in and being lovely in general! I will also thank my awesome beta, B, once reveals happen! 
> 
> ALSO! Please let me know if I missed tagging anything-- I did my best to catch it all, but I've been brain fogged and am not certain I got everything.

_ \--Niall-- _

“Here’s the thing about being a Greek god these days: it’s not nearly as glamorous as it used to be. There was a time when being a god meant power, influence, excess, and loads of sex, but a lot of those things aren’t true anymore.”

Niall winked-- quite well, he thought --and held out his hand, letting his influence do its work on the burly guard holding the VIP passes. The man blinked back at him and he continued.

“Sure, Zeus and Hera and Apollo and Artemis and all the other big names still chill on Olympus, passing around ambrosia so they can live forever, but they’ve had to make some trade offs. Like, they don’t even get to leave anymore. Most of their duties-- at least the ones that require hands on power --have been given out to us lesser gods.”

“We’re younger and less powerful, of course, so they compensated by giving us less to be in charge of. Take me for instance: god of successful winking and, well, _ this _. A good gig, really. Can’t make someone fall in love like Aphrodite could, but I can help them out along the way at least. And most of us try to travel in groups, use our powers all together to make more things happen. Anyway, that’s why we’re here. Get a few people laid if we’re lucky.”

When the actual VIPs came for their passes later, the guard explained that he thought he’d given them to the right person. He couldn’t recall a single physical detail about the man-- couldn’t even remember the details of their conversation --but he’d been so charming. “He had to have been famous. Or really rich or something. He just felt like he really belonged here.”

The excuse shouldn’t have worked (it was terrible), but when the guard was finished talking, he got the urge to wink. So he did. He ended up getting reassigned to port-a-potty duty, but he knew he should’ve been fired, really. He figured some of the charming guy’s charm must’ve rubbed off on him somehow. If only he could remember what he looked like to thank him.

*

Niall appeared in god lounge twelve with five passes around his neck and a coupon for a free sub sandwich that he’d been given in the short time that he’d walked away from the guard and to a place where he could more discreetly disappear from festival grounds. It had to be good for something. Fortunately, the very gods he’d been hoping to find were right where he’d expected them to be, though they didn’t look happy to see him.

“What the fuck, Nialler?” Louis threw a golden apple core at Niall’s head, clipping him on the ear. “We had an assignment, and we couldn’t go because you fucked off somewhere.”

Curled into Louis’ side looking sullen, Harry glared at Niall. “They gave it to the Jonas brothers. Now they’re off on some little island making everyone who lives there fall in love while singing Abba.”

Zayn cringed, and Niall suddenly felt relieved. Not everyone was upset with him, then. He threw himself into the lush pile of cushions in the middle of his friends and flapped the passes at them. “Don’t be too angry yet, fuckers! We’re going rogue.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Liam eyed Niall suspiciously from his spot next to Zayn, ignoring the passes. “We need to go on assignment if we want to be promoted. That’s how it works, after all.”

Louis sat up abruptly, Harry flopping forward with him, and reached out to give Liam’s nipple a sharp pinch. “Quiet Lime! Niall you beast, you got the passes, didn’t you?” Niall nodded, quite pleased to be receiving Louis’ praise (he was a god of it, sort of).

“Yup. Which means we’re going to roam ColourFest for the next few days spreading love and romance and good vibes everywhere we go.” Liam started to interrupt him, but Niall shot him a look and spoke a bit louder. “Which _ also _means we’re going to hit our quota early and end up getting a real break sooner than we would if we went on the typical assignment.” Niall paused for dramatic effect. “You can all thank me now.”

“I dunno man, could be trouble. Not that I mind trouble, but what if someone else is assigned there? We could get demoted if we fuck up.” Zayn rested his chin in his hand and stared at Niall, waiting for a response. Before he could speak, Liam piped up.

“You’re right, babe. A festival sounds fun, but I’m enjoying having the power to make people feel like they’re in puppy love rather than just making people love puppies. Do you know how long I was stuck doing that? Ages! Nobody ever needs help loving puppies!” Zayn patted Liam’s knee, shrugging at Niall.

“We can vote about it, I guess. There’s Liam and I.”

“I’m in!” Harry said. He’d perked up when talk of the festival got started and was practically giddy now. “Which means--”

“I’m in too. Obviously.” Louis turned and kissed Harry’s dimple as Niall turned back to Liam and Zayn, cackling with glee.

“And I’m in too, since I got the passes. Which means we need to scrounge up a couple of tents and shit, because we’re going to ColourFest, lads!”

They managed to get everything together pretty quickly, evading notice from Paul or any of the other assignment givers who might catch them acting suspicious. They were missing a few supplies, but with their particular set of skills it wasn’t something Niall was too worried about. He could definitely charm someone into sharing their food or dry socks if worse came to worse.

“Alright, I’ll pop down there first and then you lot come one by one if I don’t come right back.” Niall gave them the instructions and waited for them to nod back before heading down to the same place he’d come and gone from when getting the passes. He was happy to find it as empty as it had been before, and stepped aside, waiting for the other lads to appear. When they’d all gotten there he handed out their passes and made his way to the VIP entrance.

Giving the woman checking badges a friendly wink, Niall and the others sailed through security with no trouble at all. She even handed over a few drink tickets to each of them, smiling at them as they walked away. Ten minutes later she ended a terrible relationship that she’d been in for the past six months and took a particularly bewitching selfie that she put on her tinder profile right away. She couldn’t explain her reasoning, but she suddenly felt like she deserved to be in love.

The main stage wasn’t getting started until later that night, so Niall led everyone to a campsite that he’d scouted out earlier. It was just far enough away from the stages that would start early that he figured they could sleep late, but not so far away from the action that they’d miss out on any parties. Once the tents were set up and their site looked passable, they headed off to find a VIP area. And possibly some people who needed help falling in love.

_ \--Liam-- _

Liam stood at the edge of the crowd in the VIP tent, weighing his options. He could see Zayn standing with a trio of girls who were taking selfies in their best festival outfits. Their highlights would pop in every picture and they’d likely end up gaining a few thousand followers with his help, but none of them seemed like the right candidate for Liam’s gift. He shifted his attention to Louis, who had his arm around a musician who was set to perform later that night. She gave off an interesting vibe, but she didn’t seem like _ the one _.

He was seeking out Harry and Niall when someone cleared their throat behind him. The person was tall, with blue-green hair swept back from their face and the slightest bit of smudged eyeliner around their eyes. They held up a bottle of beer.

“You’ve been standing here an awfully long time. Drink?”

Liam cocked his head to the side, taking in the person talking to him. They might just be the right fit. He didn’t have Niall’s knack for charming, so he needed to suss out the situation a bit. Ask them some questions. The longer he spoke with someone, the more obvious it would become to him whether or not they had an interest in the particular gift he had to offer. If they weren’t up for it, he’d never foist it upon them (and it wouldn’t really work if he did).

That was the sort of thing that not only got your godly powers taken away but also got you sent directly to Cerberus shit detail (and a three headed dog _ does _ make three times the poo, in case you didn’t know).

“You’re offering?” Liam tried to wink like Niall would, but just ended up closing both of his eyes in a crinkly grin.

“Well, I am a bartender. And you have been leaning on the VIP bar for the past twenty minutes. So yes. You could say I’m offering.” The bartender held up a different bottle this time. “So-- drink?”

“Yes, yeah. A, um. Rum. Rum and coke.” Liam had had one of those about fifty years prior and remembered it being good. Sweet like the nectar they only got rarely on Olympus.

“One Coke and Bacardi,” the bartender said, handing over a drink just a moment later. They’d garnished it with a couple of bright red cherries, and Liam fished one out and popped it into his mouth gleefully. “You not into this band then?” The bartender nodded toward the stage.

“No, they’re great. It’s just that I’m here with my friends and they’re all busy, so I’m trying to decide what to do.”

The bartender laughed. “Go find someone hot and dance with them, obviously! That’s what I’d do if I weren’t stuck behind this bar.” The bartender shook their head, still chuckling to themselves, and Liam looked into his drink and smiled. He’d already sensed they were open to puppy love, but this sealed the deal. He’d definitely stumbled on someone who could absolutely need him.

“Ahh, I’ve got a boyfriend,” Liam said, casting his eyes toward Zayn, who seemed to sense his gaze and looked up to give him a shy smile in return. “You don’t, though?”

“Me? No no no! I’m here for the money. VIP bar actually pays quite well.” They wiped at the counter with a rag for a moment as the band started up their biggest hit and the crowd went wild. Liam let just a tiny bit of puppy love spill out and find its way to his new friend, and then followed their gaze to someone standing at the back of the crowd, bouncing to the music.

“What’d you say your name was?” Liam asked as casually as he possibly could when he knew he was about to give this lovely bartender (and probably the stranger in a leather jacket as well) a heaping dose of crush chemicals that would have them feeling giddy and light on their feet for at least a few days. Longer if they had even the least compatibility.

“Hm? Oh-- Tris.” Tris held up a bottle of water and tipped it at Liam in the semblance of a toast. Liam raised his glass in return and let a wave of openness to puppy love flow out and over Tris, who nearly choked on the gulp of water they’d just taken. Liam took his leave and went to talk to the friendly bartender’s potential crush.

It turned out that he was also single and also up for a bit of puppy love, so after a short conversation Liam hit him with a nice burst of crush chemical energy and knocked his drink out of his hand, offering apologies and a brand new refill at the VIP bar from his new friend Tris.

“Vodka soda for my new buddy Aiden here,” Liam said, gently shoving him toward the bar. The moment Aiden locked eyes with Tris, Liam could feel the energy shift.

Puppy love was really fabulous, possibly better than any other kind of love in Liam’s opinion. It was affectionate and warm and open and soft, and it could turn into something stronger on its own or fizzle out naturally, leaving behind a sense of fondness and hazy pink delight when Liam got involved. His particular brand of puppy love never soured or turned obsessive. Instead it just made the recipients feel like they were having a perfect puppy snuggle in their hearts. Liam smiled, walking away from his new love match.

When Niall found him a moment later Liam was staring at Tris and Aiden, who were now leaning on the bar in close conversation with one another, a shared dreamy look in their eyes. “Ooh, you look pleased with yourself. Make a bit of puppy love, didya?” Niall poked Liam in the side and Liam nodded his head toward the bar.

“Yeah, those two. Bartender was friendly, saw them looking at someone, figured out he was open to it as well and,” he spread his hands, “here we are.” Niall nodded back at him and then took another look at the new couple, his eyes widening a bit as Aiden turned toward them. He let loose one of his cackles, startling Liam. “What? What’s funny?”

“Ooh Payno!! You’ve gone and made one of the biggest festival acts fall in love. He’s the lead singer of Anxious Heartbeat.” Niall laughed harder, starting to wheeze, and Liam crossed his arms, feeling protective of his new match.

“So? Everyone deserves to be loved and to be in love! Even famous singers. Don’t see how a bit of puppy--”

“He’s, he’s,” Niall paused, trying to catch his breath, “like the most famously single, anti-love singer there is. Last album was called ‘Forever Alone’ or ‘Always Alone’ or something!” Niall’s laughter finally died down to giggles. “Can’t believe you found the only person here who openly hates love and then got him to fall in puppy love with someone.”

“But he was open to it! It doesn’t really work if they’re not, and I could feel it coming off of him. Maybe it’s a persona or something, maybe he’s--” Liam looked up and saw Aiden touching Tris’ face as Tris smiled shyly back at him. “I mean they’re clearly both feeling it!”

Niall patted him on the back. “Yeah they are. Good for them, yeah?”

Liam nodded. He hoped it was good at least.

_ \--Zayn-- _

The last of the Instagram influencers Zayn had been mobbed with had finally wobbled off to get more shots, and Zayn collapsed artfully onto the couch they’d all been standing around. It wasn’t that he disliked his abilities-- they were a natural part of him after all, and sometimes fun --but with the rise of social media he often found himself stretched thin when he went out into this sort of crowd. He preferred being a substitute hairdresser who encouraged someone to take a chance with their hair or the lone stranger at a wedding who made every picture he appeared in look that much better.

Yes, he could turn a selfie into a work of art, but when the selfie was for someone who already considered themselves to be a work of art, there was something that could feel a bit empty for him. He sighed, looking around the VIP tent and wondering if there was a way for him to escape being dragged into another crowd of people hoping to get moderately famous for being a VIP at ColourFest.

“Mind if I sit? Feel like I’ve been walking in these heels forever!”

Zayn nodded, giving the woman a once over as he did. She wasn’t terribly tall and her makeup, while lovely, wasn’t artful enough for her to be an influencer, and she wasn’t wearing the kind of clothes most women in the VIP area wore to get attention. In other words, she was like a breath of fresh air.

“I’m Zayn,” he said as she sat. “First time in at ColourFest. How about you?” She turned and gave him a sharp look, surveying him as if he’d just asked something incredibly personal.

“Alice, 26, personal assistant to Aiden Cavanaugh and devout lesbian.” She pursed her hot pink lips and stared him down, and Zayn couldn’t help but smile.

“Nice, love that. My boyfriend’s over there,” he said, pointing to Liam. He’d been at the bar for a while but had just moved toward the crowd, bobbing his head to the music. Zayn smiled as he looked on. “It’s a relief to not be surrounded by influencers, honestly.”

“You’re not one?” Alice was incredulous. “You’ve got the face for it, love. If you need help getting more followers I’ve got people who can--”

“No, no. Hate social media, actually. For myself, anyway. I know it’s a necessary evil for most mortals.”

Alice snorted a laugh, covering her mouth a moment later. “Mortals, oh my god. You do look a bit like you got dropped down here from Olympus, but that’s honestly hilarious.”

Zayn laughed along with her, mentally cursing himself. Niall could get away with that sort of thing, but for Zayn it only worked if someone found him attractive. He’d really need to be more careful. “Yeah, yeah. Some of us like to think we’re above it all, y’know.” When Alice nodded back, still snickering, he felt like he’d done alright.

“So you’re a personal assistant. How’s that?” He asked as the crowd went wild around them. The band onstage was probably getting going with their big hit.

“Eh, it’s fine. Busy. And Aiden’s not a dick, so that’s good.” Zayn could sense there was something else.

“But?”

“It’s silly. I mean, it’s not silly, but I’m young, so it’s--” Alice looked down at her manicure and then back to Zayn, examining him as if trying to determine if he was worthy. He must’ve passed her test, because she leaned in a bit closer to him so she wouldn’t have to yell over the music. “I’d like to actually manage artists, you know? Not just be a PA. It’s fine, I’ve got time, I know it’s stupid to rush anything. But I worry about getting stuck.”

She leaned back against the couch and rolled her eyes. “God, listen to me going on like that, I swear I don’t spill to everyone. Or anyone, really. Ever.” She poked Zayn’s shoulder with one of her short nails. “You’re good.”

Zayn laughed, shaking his head. His powers were usually focused more on image than anything else, but he had a feeling that Alice was special and that he was meant to help her. It seemed odd to him that she could be lacking confidence when she looked so put together and appeared entirely composed, but it was the only reason he could find that he’d be useful to help her. After all, looking good was more about confidence than anything else, and he could make people look good without trying, so he imagined that bolstering someone’s confidence could in turn make them more capable of doing whatever it was they hoped to be doing.

“I think you’re pretty alright yourself,” he said. As he looked up, he noticed the crowd of influencers who’d left him earlier starting to return in a massive swarm, and he nodded toward them. “Do you think you can hide me from that lot? I can’t make it through another round of selfies.”

“Yes, come on. There’s actually an area where security and PAs hang out. Loads of snacks and things. Let’s go.” With that, Alice whisked him away. He saw Niall laughing with Liam and hoped that things were going well for them. He’d need to check in with them later to see if they had any ideas about how he could help Alice.

_ \--Louis-- _

Louis surveyed the crowd around him, bobbing his head to the music that filled the tent. He could see Harry dancing in a clutch of people up near the front of the stage, his limbs flailing wildly as he bounced on his toes. Around him, the other dancers were moving with more freedom than was common at such a hip event, and Louis smiled to himself, proud that his boy could do what he did with such ease.

It wasn’t that surprising, really-- they were pretty powerful, even as lesser gods --but it still made Louis’ heart sing just a little. He was caught up in thinking about Harry when he brushed shoulders with the person next to him. Her dark hair was tied up in messy knot at the top of her head, and with her black denim jacket and dark jeggings she looked very much the part of the too cool hipster ready to snarl at Louis for bumping into her.

Instead she gave a nod of her head in apology and went back to bobbing her head much like Louis had been. He considered her for a moment.

The thing about Louis’ ability was that the people who needed him most always seemed to find him instead of the other way around. They’d gravitate to him almost, like flowers turned toward the sun, and Louis would sense their need and give them the love and support they required to keep on growing.

He could feel that sort of pull from her now, and so when the song ended and they both hooted their approval, he bumped her shoulder again, this time with intention.

“Good band, eh?” He gave her a half smile as she turned to look at him. Her face softened a bit when she saw his expression, and she shrugged.

“Decent. My standards are like, hella high though?” She took a sip of her beer. “I’m, um, in a band that’s up tomorrow.”

Louis raised his eyebrows at that. “Tomorrow? Which stage?”

“Here, main stage. We’re kinda the last act-- Anxious Heartbeat? I’m Leah.” She stuck out her hand and Louis shook it as she added, almost as an afterthought, “drums, mostly. Is what I play.”

Of course Louis had heard of the band-- they were incredibly popular, even among the god set --and so he smiled back at her approvingly. “Alright, alright, that’s pretty cool, yeah?” She frowned for a moment-- just a flash of emotion --and Louis saw that she didn’t find it _ that _cool. He waited, letting himself set her at ease a bit before he bumped her shoulder again. “Or not so much?”

She sighed. “No, it’s rad, you know? Aiden, the lead singer, he’s chill as fuck, right? And he’s cool with me being a big fuckin’ dyke, which is awesome.”

“But?”

“Okay, it’s like-- I don’t wanna leave the band, right? But like, sometimes? I just wanna be up front. Doing _ that _, you know?”

“Singing?” Louis asked, trying to coax a bit more out of her. She seemed to talk mostly in questions, and he was struggling to be certain of what she was really saying.

“Yeah, yeah,” she nodded. “Like I really just wanna have a mic and fuckin’ wail, right? But being a woman in this business is total shit and I’m like, a drummer. Like that’s what I do.”

“But you can sing? And you want to?”

“YEAH,” Leah said emphatically. “I mean I can, but there’s not like, room for it? I’m a good drummer and that’s as much as I’ll get.”

With that, Louis flung his arm casually around Leah’s shoulder, looking back at it to ask if it was okay though he knew (because hugs were one of his things) that it would be. She nodded once and he let his hand rest on her shoulder.

“You can be who’ll you become, you know,” he said, giving her a light squeeze. She looked at him for a moment before cracking a grin.

“I like you, you’re weird,” she said fondly, flinging her arm around his waist. They bopped to the song that the band was performing now, Louis giving her what he could through their half hug. It wasn’t much, but still he could feel the shift in her right away, the slight edge of her confidence sharpening itself with him by her side.

They parted ways at the end of the show, but with a promise to find each other the following day. Louis started back to their campsite, Harry falling in beside him sweaty and beaming not long after.

“Good night, babe?” Louis asked as they walked. He could already feel it radiating off of Harry, but hearing it from him was always a treat.

“Yes! It was just what we needed. A couple of people next to me were really connecting with the music and by the end they were totally free! It was beautiful.”

Louis looked over at Harry, thinking that he seemed to sparkle even in the dim evening light. Of course then he realized that Harry actually was sparkling when he looked down at his own shirt and saw it covered in glitter.

“Oh, Haz, _ glitter _? Really?” Louis pulled at his t-shirt and shook it, wrinkling his nose as he watched the glitter falling off it in drifts.

Harry giggled. “Never say no to glitter at a festival, Lou.” He shook his head as if that were common knowledge, and Louis tried not to be too horrified by the glitter that rained down as he did. “Anywayyy, how was your night? Help anyone?”

“I found someone, I think! I like her and I’m pretty sure I can help her. Wonder how the other boys fared?

“Fan-fuckin’-tastic, I’d say!” Niall said, appearing almost from nowhere right behind Louis and Harry. He was walking with Zayn and Liam right behind him, the three of them looking tired but happy.

“I spread a bit of puppy love--”

“To at least one person who famously claims to hate love!” Niall cut him off with a grin, dodging Liam’s hand when he reached out to pinch Niall’s side. Zayn moved in and pinched him from the other and he cackled madly, falling back to sling his arms over Liam and Zayn’s shoulders.

“Well both of them were interested, and it worked. So it’s not all bad.” Liam bumped into Niall’s side with a half smile. “Anyway, it’s weird. Tell ‘em, babe.”

“The person I met-- it turns out she works with the guy Liam helped fall into puppy love. She needs an image boost. Might see if you want to lend a hand as well, Louis, since our abilities do go together well.”

Listening to the stories they’d told, Louis got a strange sense that the person he’d met was somehow connected as well. He put his hand up, stopping abruptly, the other lads crashing into him. “Hold up. The person I helped is in a band-- Anxious Heartbeat. Ring any bells?”

“Shit! That’s Aiden’s band. He’s the one who hates love,” Liam said, eyes going wide.

“And Alice works for him,” Zayn added. “She’s the one I found.”

“Anything to add, H?” Niall asked Harry. Harry shook his glittery head.

“Not yet,” he said, looking ever hopeful.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Niall asked. His grin was wide and his eyes sparkled with chaotic goodness. “We get to work together tomorrow.”

Louis wasn’t sure how it would all play out, but he was certain Niall was right.

_ \--Niall-- _

After getting all of them into the best afterparty, Niall let loose. He wasn’t alone-- the others had matched him drink for drink and weed gummy for weed gummy --but he really unleashed quite a bit of charm there, joining conversations that felt stalled and turning them into chats that made the whole energy of the party change into something spectacular.

Waking up, he was grateful that hangovers weren’t really a thing for gods. The mortals he’d been drinking with would certainly feel the after effects today, while the only thing that bothered him was the vast amounts of charisma he’d used the night before. (And all that really did was make him hungry). Fortunately everyone had agreed to meet up and make plans over a hearty breakfast at a nearby diner.

“I’ve done my part,” Liam said, stabbing a bite of omelet with his fork. “I mean I’ll still help, but there’s only so much puppy love a god can influence, right?”

“Yeah babes but it’s not about doing your part, it’s a matter of getting all the pieces to work together somehow. Feels a bit strange that everyone just happens to be connected like this, you know?”

Louis nodded as Zayn spoke. “Yeah, Leah being in Aiden’s band, Alice working for him-- I think if we don’t all work together we might miss something big. And we’ll catch way too much shit for this trip if they realize we’ve been here and it hasn’t resulted in some kind of big love explosion of sorts.” He stuck a cartoonishly large spoon into the massive bowl of cereal he’d ordered and shoved a huge bite into his mouth, smiling around it as he chewed. He held up a finger to signify that he wasn’t done speaking and Niall looked on in a mix of disgust and amusement.

“Eh-neh-weh,” Louis said, pausing for another moment to chase his cereal down with a bit of tea, “I figure it’ll be more fun to work together too. We make a great team after all.”

Niall nodded. “Yeah, it’s true. But we need a plan if it’s going to work. A proper one.”

“Let’s think about what we know,” Harry said. He glistened under the bright fluorescent lights of the diner, and Niall wondered how Louis had managed to escape being glitter covered after sharing a bed with him.

“First off, Aiden and Tris seemed to like each other, so that’s going well.” Harry looked at Liam, who nodded.

“So far.”

“Right, so far,” Harry said, holding up two fingers before continuing. “Second, Leah is in a band with Aiden, and she wishes she could sing lead a bit.” Louis gave a thumbs up as he chewed another bite of cereal.

“And third,” Harry held up a third finger, “Alice works with their band and wants more responsibility and prestige. And work.” Zayn barely tipped his head-- a sign that he agreed --and Harry continued.

“Fourth, ehhh--” he drummed his four fingers on the table for a moment before stopping abruptly. “Okay, so we know those three things. Now what do we do with it?”

Nobody responded. “We need more food,” Niall said. “Food for five minutes, and then a plan. Yeah?” There was a quiet chorus of yeahs, and they all tucked in to their meals again. Five minutes was almost up when a plan came to Niall. He ended up making a loud buzzer noise to signify that their time was up.

“Alright. Plans? Plans?” Niall looked at each of them before speaking. “Okay, so I’ve got something at least: we need to see how it’s going with Aiden and Tris. You know puppy love only holds for a couple of weeks under the best conditions, right Liam?”

“Yeah, I mean they were pretty open to it conceptually, but if they’re not compatible it won’t even hold through today. I should have a sense of it when I see them.”

“Good, right, so here’s what I figure: if the two of them are still liking each other, the singer will probably be feeling good enough that he’ll say yes to the drummer, ahh--”

“Leah,” Louis volunteered.

“Right, Leah. To her stepping up to sing at the show. If she’s really as good as she says, Zayn could be with Alice and help her out when they get off the stage. She could maybe pitch them something, or talk to Leah about using her?”

Zayn shrugged. “Could work. I can hang out with her a bit today and help her plan what to say to be the most convincing.”

“And I can talk to Leah, get her ready to talk to Aiden before the show tonight.” Louis didn’t look altogether convinced that Niall’s plan wasn’t shit, but he was willing to participate at least. Beside him, Harry frowned.

“I’ll help,” he said, tugging at his lower lip. “Feel like I don’t quite have the right job in this whole plan yet.” Louis put an arm around his waist.

“Yeah, but you know you work best spontaneously. I have a feeling you’ll do exactly what we need when it needs to happen.” Louis kissed his cheek, Harry leaning into it.

“Great, so we’ll go back and find our people and do what we need to. Hopefully they’ll be in one of the VIP tents, but if not I’ll make sure we’re where we want to be. Goal is to have everything ready by the time they go on stage tonight. Agreed?”

Everyone agreed, and Niall nodded to their waiter, who hurried over with empty containers to package their leftovers. Though Niall had tried his best not to be too charming, it was inevitable that their waiter would love them. He’d talk about them as “the best customers he ever had” for the next ten years, never able to explain why he liked them so much. They did leave him a sizeable tip, of course.

_\--Liam--_

It wasn’t hard to find Aiden and Tris once Liam started looking for them. He brought Niall along just in case, but the second they walked into the VIP tent he spotted Aiden leaning against the bar, a dopey smile on his face. Tris was shaking up a cocktail and staring back with the same faraway look as a girl in a crop top looked on with undisguised annoyance. They finally poured the cocktail into a cup, taking their eyes away from Aiden just long enough to give the customer a nod as they pushed the drink forward.

“Well they’re definitely still enjoying each other,” Niall whispered. Liam rolled his eyes. Of course they were enjoying each other, just as he’d thought they would. He took a lot of pride in his work.

“Knew they would be.” He gave a small, decisive nod and nudged Niall’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go have a chat with ‘em. See how serious things might get.”

“Tris, Aiden, hi!” Liam brought out his biggest smile as he approached with a wave. “I see the two of you have hit it off then?”

Aiden chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s putting it mildly. Tris is probably the most amazing person I’ve met in a long time.” He sipped his drink, staring at them fondly for a moment. The fondness spilled over into his tone when he started speaking again. “Funny, brave, creative, challenging, brilliant…” Aiden sighed. “Sorry, angel,” he said, reaching out to touch Tris’ cheek. “I know it’s too much.”

“No, no, it’s really not, honey.” Tris turned to kiss Aiden’s palm and Liam’s eyes widened as Niall gripped his arm and squeezed hard.

“Excuse us for a sec,” Niall said, tugging Liam aside. Tris and Aiden didn’t seem to mind-- or notice.

“Okay, that was--”

“What in the fresh golden fleece did you _ do _ to those two? That’s not puppy love, Liam, that’s” Niall flapped his hand in their direction, “like some kind of forever shit or something.”

“It was just puppy love, I swear! I can’t do anything else, can I? I mean. Shit, you don’t think they’d mess with our powers or something while we’re here, do you? What if I can help people find true love now and not just puppy love?” Liam’s heart started to race at the thought.

“No, no, that’s not how they’d handle us. I’m sure we’d get sucked back to Olympus and yelled at if we were in trouble.”

Of course Niall was right. Liam shook his head, trying to come up with an explanation for it. He glanced over at Aiden and Tris, watching them as they brought their palms together and entwined their fingers. The realization of what might be going on hit him suddenly and his jaw dropped as he considered the possibility of it. Physically it worked. And if their passions aligned, then--

“Alright, stop with the muttering to yourself and tell me what you’ve figured out,” Niall said, poking Liam’s side. Liam turned and grabbed Niall by the arms, gripping him tightly.

“They’ve gotta be twin flames.” Liam was almost certain he was vibrating with excitement. Most gods of their caliber went centuries without seeing actual twin flames. “That has to be it.”

“Wait, you think they’re--” Niall turned and looked at Aiden and Tris again. “Shit. They are. I can’t remember what all that entails, though. Not really something I worry about with my specialty.”

“Right.” Liam nodded decisively and took Niall’s arm, dragging him from the VIP area. “It’s best if we find everyone in case this changes things.”

When they arrived back at their campsite a few minutes later, they were met with confused looks and both Harry and Louis in their towels, about to make their way to the showers. Liam sat them all down and took a deep breath before starting to explain.

“Twin flames,” he said, imitating Eros as best he could. “Not simply an exact match, but also a compliment, the fire of truest lo--” an empty beer can hit him in the arm and he paused, ready to give everyone a proper stare down to intimidate them into admitting who’d thrown it. Louis already had another in his hand.

“We know what a twin flame is, yeah? Skip to the next bit.”

There was no use arguing, so Liam skipped ahead. “When twin flames meet, there are always sparks: of love, usually, but sometimes of hate. But when twin flames meet under the influence of our powers, the fire rages! Brightest candle in the--”

“I swear I will aim for your head and I’ll not miss.”

“Ugh, fine Louis.” Liam rolled his eyes. He wanted his little moment of drama, but he’d just have to hope it would come later. “Aiden and Tris are twin flames, and being introduced to one another with my puppy love basically threw them right into the middle of being serious soulmates.”

“Aw, just like us,” Harry said, giving Louis’ ankle a squeeze. Liam shared a look with Zayn-- the two of them often shared a laugh about how extra Louis and Harry were about one another.

“Right, so what does this mean for our plan?” Louis asked.

“It means there’s an unpredictable element. If he were in puppy love, Aiden would be a bit distracted-- perfect for what we need --but with his twin flame there, everything is heightened. He could be more volatile or more accepting. We won’t know until we try talking with him.”

“Should be Alice who brings it up with him then,” Zayn said. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “She talked about him like he was cool, not just a boss.”

“So Leah should go through Alice, then?” Louis asked.

Zayn shrugged. “Seems like.”

“Ha! Plan’s still on then!” Niall punched the air and cackled. Liam puffed up his chest. He’d done his best. Now everyone else just had to keep the momentum going.

_ \--Zayn-- _

The crowds parted as Zayn weaved his way toward the VIP area with Louis following close behind. He was only stopped twice for a selfie, though, so he considered it a win.

“Love hanging out with you, but now I remember why I only like it when we’re not in public,” Louis said when they’d finally flashed their badges to get inside. “Too many creeper pics and people staring at you like you’re--”

“A god?” Zayn raised his eyebrows, lips pursed slightly to hold back a laugh. It was an obvious joke, but one he enjoyed making anyway. Louis disguised his own laughter with a groan.

“I walked into that one, shit.”

Zayn nodded. “You really did, mate.” As he turned to head into the tent he came face to face with a woman with skin a shade darker than his own and her hair in a wild top knot. He prepared himself to be asked for a selfie, and was shocked when she brushed past him and pulled Louis into a hug.

“Hey fucker! I was hoping I’d find you!” She bounced on her heels a couple of times as she and Louis embraced, and Zayn took a moment to appreciate Louis’ ability to give absolutely earth-shatteringly good hugs. It really was a lovely thing to watch. When they parted, Louis kept a hand on her shoulder.

“Leah, this is my buddy Zayn.”

She offered her fist for Zayn to bump and he did it with a little half smile. He could already see why Louis wanted to help her so much.

“We were hoping we’d run into you,” Louis explained. “Zayn knows someone he thinks might be able to help you out, and we were thinking of getting the two of you together for a chat. Or, well, the four of us really.”

Leah pulled a dubious face for a moment until a pat from Louis settled her. “If you’re sure. Who’d you want me to meet?”

“Let’s see if we can find her,” Zayn said, nodding toward the area he and Alice had hung out in the night before. As they walked, Leah began talking with the two of them.

“What crew are you here with, Zayn?” she asked. He gave her a puzzled look, and she continued. “Y’know, are you doing makeup or photography or, I don’t know, you’re like-- weirdly gorgeous, yeah? Like you sort of look like you have beauty filter on but you’re not in a picture, and it’s kind of blowing my mind!”

“Ahh he’s with me, all my beauty must’ve rubbed off on him,” Louis said, wrapping one arm around Zayn and tugging him into a side hug. He was grateful for Louis answering; it was much easier when people didn’t ask him why he looked the way he did and instead just wanted a picture.

Fortunately, he spotted Alice a moment later. She held her phone in front of her face, glaring at the screen before practically attacking it with her thumbs, furiously typing out what looked like a long and possibly angry message. Zayn held up a hand to stop the group, Leah bumping into his arm and Louis continuing forward mostly oblivious til he realized Zayn wasn’t moving. Before he could say anything about Alice, however, Leah was barreling toward her.

“Alice Malice, Queen of the Palace, hey heyyy!” Leah sing-songed, pulling Alice into a hug that almost made her lose her grip on her phone.

“Hold on a sec, Lee-Lee. I’m direct messaging with Aiden about tonight and--fuck! He just went inactive. Bastard.” Alice tapped the screen decisively, probably hitting send, and then turned to plant a kiss on Leah’s cheek. Zayn turned to look at Louis, who was staring at the two of them with his mouth open.

At least both he and Louis were equally surprised.

“Al, these are some friends I just met; Louis was next to me at the show last night and--”

“Zayn! Hi, babes! Good to see you again. Glad you didn’t get sucked back into the influencer vortex.” Alice then waved to Louis. “Lovely to meet you, Leah was telling me she met someone ‘cool and weird’ last night, so that must be you.”

“Yeah, guess so,” Louis said, awkwardly brushing at his fringe. He shared a look with Zayn that said he felt just as uncertain about how to proceed, and Zayn took it upon himself to at least get them settled somewhere not in the middle of the tent. He could already feel people starting to take notice of him.

“This might be a bit weird, but, well, Louis and I were talking about the two of you and we think you might be able to help one another. Maybe we can go have a coffee? Talk a bit?” Zayn nodded toward the less crowded area, glad when Alice and Leah moved that direction easily.

Somehow he and Louis made everything work. Zayn noticed that Louis had tossed a few of his best empathetic looks at Leah when she mentioned doubting her abilities and Zayn had focused his attention on Alice until a few people were starting to gather round, trying to ask for photos of her.

“It’s obvious you can raise someone’s status as an artist,” Zayn said finally, resting a hand on Alice’s shoulder. “If you take Leah on as your first client, Aiden would probably want to promote you, maybe even get you a few other high profile clients.”

“And you obviously know how talented Leah is,” Louis added. “So you have to admit she’s the perfect person to launch this with.”

Leah and Alice shared a quick look with one another, the sort that Zayn shared with Liam regularly. He thought it was a good sign, and raised his eyebrows at Alice, full of hope. “Well?”

“Yeah, we’re in,” Alice said finally. “Honestly it seems strange that none of this ever felt possible before.”

“Right? We’ve talked about it, but it’s always been this sort of ‘wouldn’t it be nice if that happened’ kind of thing, not something we could actually fucking _ do _, y’know? Fuck, almost feels like we were wasting time on it or something, right babe?”

Alice hesitated, and Zayn interrupted by clearing his throat. “Actually it’s all about the timing, really. Wouldn’t you say, Louis?”

Louis nodded. “Oh absolutely. The gods are in favor on it now, I’d say.” He giggled, eyes twinkling with mischief, and Zayn had to hold in a smirk.

“So the only question is how to bring it up with Aiden, then.” Alice pulled out her mobile and tapped a message onto the screen quickly. “He’s off having some kind of fling, if you can believe it.” Leah’s mouth dropped open. “_ I know. _ Talk about things you didn’t expect to happen at fucking ColourFest.”

“Is it really that odd?” Zayn swallowed hard, half dreading the answer.

“Uhh, yeah, I’d say so,” Leah said, eyes widening comically. “That fucker is like, so secretive usually. We’ve been in a band together for almost five years now and I’ve never met a single person he’s dated.”

Zayn and Louis exchanged a nervous glance. “It’s a thing with him, then? Being single?” Zayn asked. Alice leaned toward him conspiratorially.

“It’s half an act, really,” she said just above a whisper. “He figured out early on that it was easier to have a private life if it looked like he never dated, and he built up his persona and the band’s image around that. Even Leah and I aren’t seen out that much, and the bass player has a kid that is basically a piece of fandom lore on the internet. It’s mad.”

She paused for a moment, lips pursed and eyes darting around, then nodded for Zayn and Louis to come a bit closer. “It’s an open secret among people like us in the industry, but Aiden’s actually queer and genderfluid. So the whole ‘hating love’ image keeps the wrong people from noticing what’s actually going on.”

“Fucking hets, right?” Leah added, shaking her head with disgust. “He super doesn’t trust them.”

At that, a laugh bubbled up from Zayn completely unintentionally. “Fuckin’ same,” he said, shaking his head. He and Louis stayed chatting with Alice and Leah a bit longer, coming up with some semblance of a plan for how they’d broach Leah getting a chance to sing later on. When they parted ways, it was with special backstage VIP passes that would allow them (and Niall, Liam, and Harry) to be right in the middle of the action for Anxious Heartbeat’s big performance that night.

Back at the campsite, the rest of the boys weren’t nearly as close to ready for another evening in the VIP tent as Zayn had thought they would be. Niall had charmed one of the nearby party tents into expanding their celebration a bit farther down, and Harry was blowing glitter onto a crowd of bouncing, ecstatic partiers. Liam had a drink in his hand and looked like he was enjoying himself too when Zayn snuck an arm around his waist. They had enough time to enjoy a dance or two before they needed to plan for the rest of the night.

_ \--Louis-- _

The VIP area was crowded when they arrived, even more than it had been the night before. They’d agreed to mostly stick together tonight, which Louis thought was a pretty good idea considering that their ‘plan’ was slapdash at best. They’d need their combined power to make sure everything went even close to alright. He was going over everything once again when he felt teeth graze his ear.

“Louuu, there’s nothing we can do about it now,” Harry said, wrapping one arm around Louis’ waist and pulling him close against his chest. Louis went with it. How could he not?

“So we’re just supposed to grind it out then?” He pushed his arse back into Harry and raised one eyebrow. “To the dulcet tones of whatever this so-called music is?”

“You know I could dance to anything, babe. Especially with you.” Harry held onto him, still swaying their bodies back and forth, but Louis could feel the dip in his energy like it was a wet blanket. He turned his head to whisper in Harry’s ear.

“What’s wrong, love? Whole crowd’s gonna be sobbing soon if we’re not careful.”

Harry hummed and chewed his lip and generally tried to avoid answering, but his resolve only lasted for a few seconds before he was pulling Louis off to the side of the tent, his brows drawn together with frustration.

“Alright,” Louis urged. “Out with it, babe.”

“I’m not part of the plan,” Harry said through a ridiculous pout. Louis poked at his plump lower lip until Harry snapped his teeth, pretending to bite Louis’ fingertip off.

“Is that really all?” He asked once he realized Harry wasn’t going to say anything else. “Nothing else is upsetting you?”

“Yeah, that’s everything. You’re all working and I’m here just dancing and sharing glitter, it’s like I’m not even part of the team.”

Louis tugged Harry toward him until they were chest to chest, his arms wrapping tightly around Harry’s middle. “Baaaabe, you do remember that we were mostly coming here on holiday, right?” Harry scrunched his nose up in response, and Louis continued. “Which means that technically you’re the only one of us actually doing what we came here to do. The rest of us just got caught up in being around so many people.”

Harry shrugged, turning his head to look at the people standing right in front of the stage dancing to the band.

“And! You know you’ve made every person you’ve even looked at have a better time, right? You’re constantly working even if you don’t even try to. You light up a room like nobody else, love.” Louis puckered his lips and Harry, always unable to resist, met them with his own for a kiss.

“I know you think I’m beautiful, Lou,” Harry said when he pulled away. “But I wanna have a part in this plan, not just be the person who brought the rainbow glitter.”

Before Louis could respond, the crowd erupted in cheers and the band that had been on stage rushed off, sweaty and grinning.

“Fuck, Anxious Heartbeat is next, we’ve got to--”

“C’mon, they’re standing with Liam and Zayn and Niall. We’ll go check in.” Harry led the way, and Louis squeezed his hand as they crossed the short distance to their friends and the key players in their scenario. They arrived in time to hear Leah telling everyone that she was going to get a chance to sing lead on one of the songs.

“Yeah, I get to do ‘I’m Not Sad, You’re Sad’ as lead vocals and we ran through it already and it was like”-- she held her hands in front of her chest and shook them violently --”everything!” When she saw Louis, she pulled him into a tight hug that ended with her bouncing in place with him. “I owe it to you, you wonderful little angel demon! I don’t even know what you are but you’re absolute fuckin’ magic and you made all this possible I swear to god!”

Louis heard Zayn mutter, “which one,” and he let out a cough to cover it, glad that when Leah let him go nobody seemed to have caught what Zayn said.

“It’s all you, please. You’ve worked hard for this and it’s gonna happen. I’m glad Aiden supported you!”

“Of course he did!” Leah turned and dragged someone over, putting him in a headlock-like hug. “Aiden loves me!”

“I do, I do-- but I love breathing too, Lee, damn.” He let Leah hug him for another moment until she was satisfied and let him go. Louis noticed he had managed to keep holding hands with the slightly taller person behind him, who Louis assumed was Tris. “You must be the one who gave Leah the confidence to talk with me,” he said, giving Louis a smile. “Good work.”

“She and Alice were really the ones who did it,” Louis said. “You’re gonna have a killer show tonight, I can tell.”

Tris finally stepped closer to join Aiden, and Louis barely held in a grin as Harry squeezed his hand when Aiden and Tris were able to look at one another again. From the looks on their faces you’d think they hadn’t seen each other for years.

“Are we that bad?” Harry whispered.

Louis shook his head even though he knew it was a lie. He and Harry were absolutely that bad.

The crowd noise died down suddenly and the band members moved toward the stage, the emcee preparing the crowd for their arrival. Tris followed Aiden almost all the way on stage, stopping to look on wistfully when the band finally made their entrance.

They were in for a hell of a show.

_ \--Harry-- _

The view from backstage wasn’t enough. Plus everyone else was absolutely on edge about how the show would go down, and all the anxiety was affecting Harry in a way that would end up making the crowd go all weird if he wasn’t careful. So with Niall’s help he’d made it to the front of the pit by the stage, close enough that if he tried he could probably jump and scramble his way onto the catwalk that led out into the audience.

He’d put out all the great energy he could from the moment he walked out, and it had done the trick. Everyone around him was feeling themselves, feeling the music, feeling _ good _, and he threw his arms up to pump his fists to the song the band was singing.

“Gotta dig myself outta this pit, this cage, this place alone and full of rage,” Aiden sang, walking down the catwalk with a cordless mic in hand. Harry marveled at how upbeat the song was in spite of being about feeling sad and lonely.

“Is he always this happy?” Harry yelled to the girl who was jumping and screaming next to him. She shrugged, pausing a moment before admitting this was the first Anxious Heartbeat show she’d ever seen.

“I didn’t think I’d like them this much to be honest,” she said after clapping wildly when the song ended. “But this is literally the best show I’ve ever been to in my entire life.” Harry grinned at her, and then turned his attention to the stage where Aiden was pointing toward Leah.

“She’s the raddest, baddest drummer I’ve ever known, and we’ve been making music together for a long time. But tonight we’re doing something special.”

Harry turned back to the girl next to him. “Ooh, this part’s gonna be good! Pay attention.” She joined him in looking at the stage.

“We’ve only got a couple more songs for you tonight, and Leah’s gonna take the lead on both of them. But before we sing our anxious hearts out for all of you, I have something I want to say.” Aiden moved to the very end of the catwalk and looked out into the crowd. Harry resisted the urge to reach out and touch his shoe.

“You know me as someone who hates love. Our songs, when we sing about love, aren’t all light and roses, and we take a lot of dark and sad moments and try our best to turn them into something you’ll understand. But for too long I’ve pretended like I was all darkness and no light. It’s time for me to change that. Baby?”

Harry’s jaw dropped. This was not part of the plan, and he was certain that the mood backstage right now was one of confusion and anxiety. Even onstage, the band’s eyes were wide and their mouths were agape. The crowd was hushed as Tris took the stage and walked toward Aiden, taking his hand.

“I met someone who lights me up like...like...fireworks and christmas trees and fancy LED art displays. I can’t hide who I am, who I love. This is me.”

Around him, Harry could feel the crowd’s hesitance. They couldn’t figure out what they were seeing or how to react to it, and all at once Harry realized this was his moment, his part in the whole big plan. He rubbed his hands together and concentrated hard, waiting for the moment that he felt silky fabric in his hands.

Grinning, he lifted his rainbow flag in the air and waved it wildly, right at Aiden and Tris’ feet. “Be who you are! Love wins! Every time!” He put a lot of power into his words and he felt the crowd reflect it right back at him, cheers erupting instantly.

Tris pulled Aiden into a kiss, and that whipped the crowd into an even greater frenzy. The band started playing behind them, the instruments crashing before Leah’s voice came in to scream-sing “Aaaahhh, I’m not sad! You’re sad!”

Before he could second guess his decision, Harry flung himself toward the stage, pulling himself up onto the catwalk. Aiden gave him a thumbs up, waving off security as Harry began to dance and run around the stage, his rainbow flag flapping wildly with him. The crowd’s dancing intensified, and even with the stage lights in his eyes Harry could see that everyone was moving.

He stayed dancing through the band’s final song, the energy coming off the crowd energizing him even more so that he was able to put it all right back out to them. The band was clearly feeling it too, their faces practically euphoric as they sang and played. When they took their final bows, the crowd roared and stomped and clapped and then begged for an encore, which the band happily gave them.

Harry left the stage, finally, running to the back to find Louis and the others. He figured the crowd would relax a bit without him there.

“Hazzaaaaa!!!” Louis yelled, jumping into his arms and wrapping his legs around Harry’s waist. “You did that! You!” Louis kissed him, all messy tongue and hardly any finesse, and he couldn’t bring himself to mind. “Fuck, I’m feeling it too babe, you’re amazing, you’re--”

Harry cut him off with another kiss, this one calmer and smoother and soothing enough that Louis relaxed his grip a bit. Harry pulled away with a giggle. “It was really that good?”

“You got the crowd to go with the whole thing. Without you, it would’ve happened, but who knows how it would’ve gone?” Louis’ eyes crinkled with unconcealed joy. “You and your rainbows saved the day.”

The sound of someone clearing their throat pulled Harry out of his laser focus on Louis. “The rest of us are here too, y’know,” Niall said with a smirk.

Louis released Harry from the monkey hug they’d been in and spread his arms out. “C’mon, get in,” he said, nodding toward the other boys until they all got together for a group hug.

“Is this a private hug, or can anyone join?” Alice asked. Zayn lifted his arm to make space for her, and after a moment they were joined by all the band members as well as Tris. It was one big massive cuddle pile. Harry couldn’t have been happier with the whole thing if he tried.

The next morning (after several after parties and after-after parties and a few hours of lazy kissing and light sleeping), Harry emerged from his tent with Louis in tow, both of them exhausted but pleased. It was a good vacation-- work trip, really --and they’d done no harm and a fair bit of good. The looks on everyone’s faces told a slightly different story.

Liam looked upset (or possibly constipated, though that was really only a problem for mortals). Zayn seemed worried (some would read it as coolly indifferent, but Harry knew better). And Niall, well. Niall had the face of someone who was being hunted.

“I think we might’ve, ehh, fucked up a bit,” Niall said after someone brought over some coffee to share with them. “The whole thing made the news, and we ended up in the mortal papers.” He held up a copy of one of the major papers. They weren’t front page news, fortunately, but they were part of a big story titled ‘ColourFest a Modern Day Bacchanalia’ that featured Harry’s grinning face and bare, tattooed chest framed by a pride flag as well as a picture of their group hug with the band from the night before.

“Apparently every person at the festival ended up at the show last night, and even after the music ended people were dancing til this morning.” Liam’s pinched brows and slight frown made Harry feel much worse than his words.

“The reporter who was supposed to write the story was so out of it they had another writer actually put it together. I guess the girl who was here was up front and got pretty high off the whole thing,” Zayn said. “Heard that from the person who gave us the paper. Think the reporter might’ve been next to you.”

Harry winced. Before he could say anything, Louis grabbed his hand.

“This is not on you and it’s not a bad thing,” he said, his voice so sure that Harry believed him immediately in spite of having just felt like the opposite was true. “We all worked together on this whole thing, and we’ll all deal with it together.”

Before Louis could continue, an overly excited Leah came barreling into his side, tackling him with a hug. Alice wasn’t far behind, though she was out of breath and shaking her head when she finally made it to them.

“We’ve been looking for you,” she said, gesturing toward Leah, who had just let Louis out of her hug and was now standing with one arm around Louis’ shoulder and the other around Harry’s waist. “Tell ‘em, honey.”

“Okay, so the show last night was fucking _ epic _, right?” Leah grinned, raising her eyebrows as she looked at all of them. “Well this morning Alice gets a call from the label, and they’re all, ‘we were so mad, blah’ but then they totally change course like, ‘but the news is positive and this is a bold move, we’d like to offer you all this cool stuff’ and then they went and called me and offered to let me head up a solo project with Alice in charge of it. AAAAHHHHH!!”

Harry flinched at Leah’s scream, but turned to smile at her anyway. “That’s good, right?”

“It’s not good, Harry,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s fucking rad and amazing and perfect and everything we wanted!”

“They’re also letting Aiden move forward however he’d like with the band. They said anyone who could draw the entirety of a festival this size to their stage can do whatever the hell they want,” Alice added. She seemed much more relaxed and zen than she had yesterday. That felt like a good sign to Harry.

“And how are Aiden and Tris?” Liam asked, scooting forward so that he was literally on the edge of his seat. “Still good?”

Alice bit back a smile. “Um, you could say that.”

“Those assholes went and got married last night!” Leah said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Found some rando to do a ceremony and traded rings they bought off of someone in the VIP tent. They’re so in love it’s stupid!”

Liam’s eyes went wide as he fell back in his chair. “Wow,” was all he could say.

They all chatted for a bit, but soon Alice and Leah said their goodbyes and it was time to pack up and head back. Before long, they were gathered at the spot where they’d arrived. It was as deserted as it had been that first day, and Harry wished for a moment that they weren’t leaving yet.

“At least if I’m on dog duty I’ll know I helped one pair of twin flames find each other,” Liam said wistfully. “Still, I’ll miss all of you. You most of all, Zayn.”

Louis clapped a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back into a hug. “Payno you’re not getting demoted. We did good here, yeah? Plus there’s still no guarantee they’ll know about us being here. They don’t always keep up with mortal news, right?”

They arrived at Olympus to find Paul waiting for them. In one hand he held a copy of the paper they were in, and in the other he had a steaming cup of ambrosia. He did not look pleased.

“Oh, the dream team has decided to come back, I see,” he said when they’d all made it through. He let them set their things down before ushering them to his office. He paced for a moment before speaking.

“Five mid-class gods let loose at a massive music festival. Not only do we get a headline that name drops Bacchus, we get videos like this one,” he snapped his fingers and a glitter-covered man with wide eyes appeared in a youtube video in front of them talking about how he ‘saw god’ at the Anxious Heartbeat show. “And we have a mega-star who has openly maligned love dragging someone onstage for a kiss. You better have a damn good story to tell me or you’re all getting demoted for this. I’ve fought for you boys but it--”

Harry’s heart raced as Niall interrupted Paul’s speech, an easy smile on his face and his blue eyes shining. Though it wouldn’t do anything to Paul, Harry could still feel the charm effortlessly emanating from Niall.

“Alright well,” Niall said, settling back in his chair to tell their story. “It all started like this…”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I will connect a fic post once authors are revealed! Until then please consider leaving a kudos or comment :)


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